a little bit of Easter art to put you in mind of Spring...

I always look forward to Easter and Spring because everything is so colorful and sweet. Fuzzy little bunnies and chicks are adorable! So with this in mind I put together a quick little tutorial to show you how to make a sweet miniature pull toy with a bunny,

  or chick,

 or hedgehog, oh my!

They are super easy to make and just take a few basic tools and supplies. 

Start by cutting out a rectangular shape approximately 11/16" x 7/8" from a thin piece of balsa wood or a piece of heavy chipboard.

 Check the edges for smoothness

 and lightly sand them so they look more finished. I used my Metal Reliefing Block, but an emery board works just fine too.

 Pick out some pretty pastel colors of paint. (Mine are from Martha Stewart Crafts.)

 

I painted two coats on my rectangles, letting the paint dry completely between coats.

 Add a bit of decoration to the painted rectangles and let them dry completely.

 Make a small bow and glue it to your bunny (or other animal, if you want).

 Using a pair of tweezers (I use these tweezers for everything! In fact I often use two pairs at once as my "hands" when working with tiny things.) glue two 6mm doll buttons to one side of the rectangle as shown below.

 When they are completely dry, glue two buttons on the other side of the rectangle.

 

Once those buttons have all dried, you can glue some contrasting 4mm doll buttons on top of them for added dimension. 

 When everything is dry flip the rectangle over to the undecorated side. Cut a piece of baker's twine or rayon cording about 4.5" in length.

 

Knot one end of the cord then glue it to the rectangle.

 When the glue has dried flip the rectangle over and glue your animal in the center.

Ta-da! Now you have a cute miniature Easter toy to add to a doll house or shadowbox or maybe to a diorama... Speaking of dioramas, I just finished working on this one...

 I used air dry clay to make the eggs and "painted" them with Copic pens.

 I love the way they look in that cute little basket!

While I was making Easter things, I though I would try my hand at making a tiny little scene in a bottle...

 I think it came out pretty cute :)

 I was really glad I had my tweezers when I was working on this!

Thanks for reading this really long post! I hope you enjoyed it and want to make your own little pull toy. I you would like to know what I used to make the Just Believe diorama or the Bunny Bottle my supply lists are below :)

Just Believe Diorama Supplies:

Micro Rustic Wheelbarrow
Tiny Wicker Basket
Black & White Bunny Rabbit
Sheet Moss

Carrots - Set of 12
4 Inch Round Wooden Plaque
Flower Soft - Christmas Green
Mushrooms - Turquoise*  

12mm Wooden Drawer Pull or Box Feet
Chitchat Stickers

Bunny Bottle Supplies:

Oval Glass Bottle with Cork*
Bent Nose Tweezers
Small Bright Pink Mulberry Blossoms*
Small Pale Pink Mulberry Blossoms*
Small White Mulberry Blossoms*
1 Inch Mulberry Paper Rose Leaves*
Sheet Moss
Mushrooms - Orange*
1/4 Inch Silk Ribbons - Yellow
1/8 Inch Drapey Ribbons
Mini Rabbit Figurines

"24 Carrot Farms" a miniature farm stand...

A while back, at Alpha Stamps, we got these cool wooden boxes, from Maya Road, in. Leslie put them on the website but they didn't really sell very well. I thought that was kind of a shame because they were really awesome. Leslie told me to take one home and see what I could do with it. After a bit of pondering, and some supply gathering, I turned that box into a sweet little farm stand.

Just look at those tiny apples! Don't they look delicious?

I used paper from two new 6"x6" paper pads to cover the box and table. The adorable carrot print is from Echo Park's Homegrown pad. I love it! And all that beautiful wood grain, on the floor (which was the lid of the box) and on the outside of the stand, comes from Bo Bunny's Heritage pad.

 The box is just over 7" tall so I had to be creative with the use of my 6" paper. I think it adds a nice touch to have some of the wood grain going in a different direction.

 While I was creating my little stand, I decided to design a couple of collage sheets to use on it. One of the collage sheets has all of the signs, bags, and boxes for a farm stand called 24 Carrot Farms. There's even an awning to fold and glue together. Speaking of awnings, did you notice that handsome crow standing right above the awning?

The other collage sheet I designed has tons of produce crate labels as well as can and jar labels. You can see them in use in the photo below on the tops of two crates and on some bottles and cans.

Me being the crazy cat lady I am, I just couldn't help myself and added a couple of cats and a grape stealing rat to my scene. One of the cats is asleep in a stack of towels. The other is lounging next to the peaches :)

The rat is so tiny he's hard to see, but he's making off with a big bunch of grapes over by the pumpkins, lol. He's had to drag his sweet booty (grapes) all through the straw on the floor to make his escape.

Looking back on the beginning of this post, I have to say I'm quite pleased with what I was able to do with the box I took home. I really like the way my little farm stand turned out and I hope you've enjoyed the tour I've given you of it. If you'd like to build your own tiny little farm stand here's a link to my supply list.
Thanks for dropping by and enjoy your day!